Gun Rights

In the News

March 18, 2015 | The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms backed down last week from banning a popular type of ammunition, a big win for gun rights advocates. But both gun rights and gun control proponents are armed to the teeth for a lobbying battle that will continue, as the agency has promised “further study” of the issue and…

January 14, 2015 | Wall Street did its part to make 2014 the most expensive midterm election ever, outpacing its 2010 total and once again putting the bulk of its financial muscle behind GOP candidates and groups. Donors from the securities and investment industry, otherwise known as Wall Street, contributed a total of $184 million to candidates, parties and outside…

December 22, 2014 | Overall spending on lobbying has been on a downward trajectory since 2010 and the number of active lobbyists has seen an even longer-term and more drastic drop. Previous entries in this series have investigated where the people dropping off the lobbyist rolls are working now (the same places!) and whether congressional gridlock has been a…

December 17, 2014 | Former Florida Governor and ex-First Brother Jeb Bush announced his plans to start a fundraising committee next month, and immediately some big names in GOP money — such as Florida developer Mel Sembler — got behind him. Bush has recently proven his ability to raise big bucks, but some of Bush’s likely competitors for the…

November 24, 2014 | Vaping is hot. Use of electronic cigarettes is on a steady rise — the overall market value was estimated to be between $1 and $1.7 billion last year. Even the term has achieved the ultimate mark of respectability: “Vaping” was recently named Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries. Fittingly, we’ve made this the latest…

November 10, 2014 | It may be too early to call 2014 the year that K Street’s long decline ended, but the most recent round of reports suggest at least a leveling off. Third quarter 2014 lobbying expenditures totaled $771.9 million, which is only a bit lower than outlays during the same period in previous years. And spending for the…

October 17, 2014 | It appears Dave Brat has given up running on a shoestring for a new pair of Air Jordans. The Republican nominee for Virginia’s 7th District congressional seat became a political celebrity overnight by defeating House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a June 10th primary — despite a multimillion dollar fundraising disadvantage. The tea party-supported Brat…

October 6, 2014 | One month till the election? Welcome to the OK Corral — the shootout’s just beginning. Both the National Rifle Association and Americans for Responsible Solutions, the pro-gun control group founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), have said they will unleash a fusillade of ads supporting and attacking candidates in some of the tightest contests in the…

July 30, 2014 | Lobbying filings for the second quarter show that the public debate often seeps into the advocacy efforts of companies. This year: immigration, net neutrality and the right to channel a broadcast program using a tiny antenna have caused several companies to spend big in order to influence legislators. Meanwhile, some topics, including gun rights and defense spending,…

July 8, 2014 | Despite objections from a handful of Democrats, the Senate voted on Monday to move forward with a pro-hunting bill that has delighted most gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association. Introduced by embattled incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act (S. 2363) would unlock funding to build shooting ranges on public land while easing hunting restrictions. But…

June 19, 2014 | In other upsets where tea party-backed candidates have emerged as victors, outside spending has been a big part of the formula for helping insurgents prevail. In the case of Majority Leader Eric Cantor‘s epic defeat at the hands of an unknown opponent in the Virginia GOP primary last week, though, outside groups seemed to play…

June 17, 2014 | Since the beginning of the 2014 campaign cycle last year, 14 donors — running the gamut from a hedge fund manager to a gay rights activist to a little-known Salt Lake City venture capitalist — have given $100,000 or more to President Barack Obama’s avowedly un-campaign committee, Organizing for Action. Another 26 have ponied up…

June 11, 2014 | “I’m in shock,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said in response to the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to David Brat, a small-town tea party activist, in Tuesday’s Virginia primary. No kidding: McHenry has received at least $60,000 from Cantor’s extensive fundraising network over the years — and he’s not the only one who’s…

June 10, 2014 | South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has never had to fight with a fellow Republican for his Senate seat. Now, he is battling tooth and claw to ward off six cheeky challengers in today’s primary. The two-term senator has already spent $8.5 million in the 2014 race, outflanking all his Republican contenders, who together have barely spent $2 million.…

May 12, 2014 | Politics has always been partly a game of chance. And when it comes to the politics of gambling policy, where the industry’s high-rolling campaign donors are anteing up for a clash over online gaming, it’s anybody’s guess who the big winners will be. The gaming industry has long had a big presence in Washington.…

May 7, 2014 | Last night, North Carolina Speaker of the House Thom Tillis won the Republican primary and the right to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan — a victory for the GOP establishment, as Tillis easily dispatched outsider Greg Brannon. This morning, pundits not only declared victory for the establishment, but speculated that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who flew down last weekend to…

March 5, 2014 | Sean Noble's mammoth group -- which since 2009 has funneled $170 million-plus to conservative organizations involved in politicking -- seemed to be on the outs last year with its main backers. Now, say hello to American Encore.

October 1, 2013 | On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry signed the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, igniting a wave of criticism from pro-gun members of Congress. A closer look shows most of those opponents depend on the gun lobby for campaign cash.

July 31, 2013 | Is big business backing off K Street? After years of dominating the scene, several traditionally powerful lobbying interests have significantly cut back their spending in the second quarter of 2013. A list of industries that cut their spending most between the first three months of the year and the second three months reads like a Who's Who of lobbying heavyweights: Pharmaceuticals, electric utilities, oil and gas, finance and credit, telecom and agricultural services led the roster.

May 29, 2013 | Although Election Day 2016 is still more than three years away, powerful forces within the Democratic Party have signed up to support the potential campaign of Hillary Clinton for the presidency.
The Ready for Hillary super PAC, which filed its statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission in January, established its National Finance Council on Tuesday. Its founding members include Steve and Amber Mostyn, two lawyers based in Houston, Texas, who have contributed significant funds to political groups in recent years, along with Susie Tompkins Buell, a clothing entrepreneur who assisted Clinton's fundraising efforts in 2008.

May 22, 2013 | Two liberal tax-exempt groups, Citizens for Strength and Security and Patriot Majority, have killed themselves off and re-established multiple times, and sprouted various offshoots that play by different sets of rules. It makes them virtually impossible to track for the average citizen -- and maybe for the IRS, too.

May 14, 2013 | A mash-up of data on bill sponsorships, campaign contributions and lobbying shows that in some cases, lawmakers have sponsored bills of interest to just one entity -- which happens to be a top contributor to the lawmaker's campaign fund.

May 2, 2013 | It was the National Association for Gun Rights -- not the NRA -- that drove the spike in lobbying by gun rights groups in the first quarter of the year. The group had never lobbied at the federal level. Plus, OpenSecrets Blog finds more ties between the group and Ron and Rand Paul.

May 2, 2013 | Following a pattern that has been playing out for the last few years, spending on federal lobbying declined in the first quarter of 2013. There were exceptions in connection with the hottest issues of the past three months, like the gun control debate; but overall, most organizations that traditionally spend big on lobbyists have cut back once again.

April 22, 2013 | Not surprisingly -- and per the usual pattern -- lobbying expenditures by pro-gun rights groups in the first quarter of 2013 far surpassed that of groups on the other side. But there wasn't as much of a jump in that spending as some expected, given the Sandy Hook shootings.

April 15, 2013 | Happy Tax Day!
We hope you'll celebrate by reading the first installment of our new report, which shows that it's not all that hard to be a big player in politics while keeping donors under wraps AND gaming the IRS, the agency that's supposed to be the cop on this particular beat.

April 4, 2013 | The National Association for Gun Rights -- a group to the right of the NRA -- has been stirring controversy with attacks on Republicans. As it happens, the group has strong ties to both Rand and Ron Paul, OpenSecrets Blog has found.

February 27, 2013 | The subject of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing today -- a proposed assault weapons ban -- is controversial enough. But casting another shadow on the conversation is the fact that members of the panel, who may vote on the proposal as early as Thursday, have received far more in campaign contributions from gun rights groups and individuals who are committed to the issue than they have from the other side. Since 2000, committee members have collected over $350,000 from gun rights groups and individuals, but just $17,000 from pro-gun control interests.

February 8, 2013 | Jesse Benton was an integral part of the Paul family's network of organizations, and a lightning rod for controversy before he left last fall to become Mitch McConnell's campaign manager. We can settle one matter about which critics have raised questions: How much he earned during his years with Paul's various committees.

February 6, 2013 | Rep. Tammy Duckworth was mentioned in the news more in her first month of office than any other House freshman, according to a University of Minnesota study. She also spent more in her campaign than her colleagues in the class of '12.

January 25, 2013 | Good government types, labor unions and others have lobbied to change filibuster rules. Also, some of the clients of Mary Jo White's law firm will be watching her actions at the SEC, if she's confirmed as chief, with more than passing interest.

December 21, 2012 | A previously unreported nonprofit network funneled millions of dollars to the Koch brothers' effort to catch up with Democrats' voter microtargeting. And beyond that, it sent money to a collection of other tax-exempt groups that worked to get Republicans elected in the last two campaign cycles.

December 17, 2012 | West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) is one of the few Democrats who receives campaign cash from the National Rifle Association, but this morning he said he was ready to talk about gun control.

December 14, 2012 | When it comes to lobbying, campaign contributions and outside spending, pro-gun rights groups are light years ahead of those that support stronger gun control. The NRA accounts for most of the spending.

December 3, 2012 | This year's Farm Bill, including its food stamp provisions, stalled in the House before the election. But the program has a big constituency, and it's not just poor people -- something lawmakers looking for budget cuts might want to keep in mind.

December 3, 2012 | J.C. Watts, who's being mentioned as a possible RNC chair, has some strong ties to shadow money. A dialysis company that's accused of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid has invested heavily in Washington. And Bloomberg's pro-gun control super PAC likely had an impact.

November 30, 2012 | Lobbying on issues related to Syria has ramped up as the conflict in the war-torn nation has intensified. South Dakota's Tim Johnson begins to put his campaign in gear. And Biden pays a visit to a new COSTCO store, where any Democrat is likely to get a friendly reception.

October 16, 2012 | Tonight's debate will be closely watched to see whether the president delivers a more energetic performance. But there are other reasons to tune in, including keeping an eye on whether the candidates' responses reflect the positions of their campaign contributors.

October 4, 2012 | There are plenty of disparities in the contest between Rick Nolan and Chip Cravaack, including the fact that Cravaack has raised about $1 million more. But outside spending is the real story of this race.

August 23, 2012 | Patriot Majority's latest series of attack ads targets the conservative billionaires pumping money into the secretive world of right-wing non-profits, but offers few clues about who is funding its own activities. In a striking example of how the most ambitious actors in the realm of political funding have begun taking advantage of a shift in the legal landscape since 2010, the trail connecting Patriot Majority to its well-known progressive funders has all but melted away. Almost all of Patriot Majority's activities are now being carried out through a nonprofit that, under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, doesn't have to disclose its donors.

August 9, 2012 | A court case requiring groups running electioneering communications to disclose their donors sees its first fruit. Republican senators want to be sure the IRS doesn't crack down on nondisclosing groups before the election. And Sen. Sherrod Brown's pounding by outside groups helps shrink his lead in Ohio.

June 27, 2012 | The NRA hearts the GOP. The Office and Management and Budget says the FCC's new rule on disclosure of political ad buys doesn't violate the Paperwork Reduction Act. And Congress could provide relief on student loan rates this week.

June 18, 2012 | A joint investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Responsive Politics has found that more than 100 nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code spent roughly $95 million on political expenditures in the 2010 election compared with $65 million by super PACs.

May 18, 2012 | A secretive, well-funded group provided $44 million in 2010 to a host of 501(c)(4) groups, many of which were among the most active in airing ads attacking Democrats in the midterm elections. The Center to Protect Patient Rights was the source of more than half the budget of the group American Future Fund, for example. The Center's role in funding the groups has not previously been reported.

May 2, 2012 | Talking heads and culture warriors have been working overtime in 2012 on both sides of the abortion, birth control, religious freedom and gun rights issues. But for all the talk about how much -- or how little -- say the government should have on key social issues, the battles haven't spilled onto K Street. According to OpenSecrets.org data, lobbying on ideological issues was down nearly across the board for the first three months of 2012.

April 19, 2012 | The music industry a whole has long been a solid supporter of the Democratic Party. See what musicians are giving money in this election cycle, and who has given the most among musicians.

January 26, 2012 | The nation's economy may be slowly rebounding, but during 2011, the economic engine of K Street sputtered. Overall expenditures on lobbying were down for the first time in more than a decade, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics.

November 14, 2011 | Despite the move last week by Jefferson County, Ala., to file for bankruptcy, the residents of the region have continually been among the most generous Alabamians in terms of their campaign contributions.

October 6, 2011 | Bank of America's decision to charge its debit card users $5 per month has drawn the ire first of customers, and now, politicians, including President Barack Obama, who collected about $395,000 from Bank of America employees during his 2008 presidential run -- although this year BofA employees have favored Republican Mitt Romney with their campaign cash.

September 13, 2011 | This morning, the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security will hold a hearing on H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, legislation that has been targeted by both gun control groups and organizations supportive of gun rights.

June 13, 2011 | Bachmann raised the most money during the 2010 election cycle, outpacing 434 of her House colleagues, as OpenSecrets Blog has previously noted. Her dominant $13.5 million haul was much more than House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who was a distant second with nearly $9.8 million in fundraising.

May 3, 2011 | Several of the year's hottest political topics have witnessed the greatest increase in lobbyists' attention during the first months of the 112th Congress, according to a preliminary analysis of lobbying reports by the Center for Responsive Politics.

March 18, 2011 | In late January, first-term Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) called on the Interior Department to allow a regulated wolf hunt in Montana. A few days later, he urged Taco Bell to use Montana beef in its restaurants. In between, Tester introduced S. 219, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. The measure would require senators and U.S. Senate candidates to file their campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission -- electronically.

February 4, 2011 | The nation's financial malaise is finally catching up to K Street, where federal lobbying activity plateaued for the first time in a decade, the Center for Responsive Politics' research indicates. After a record $3.49 billion in lobbying spending in 2009, lobbying expenditures in 2010 by corporations, unions, trade associations, universities and other organizations will, at most, eclipse that amount by the narrowest of margins.

January 13, 2011 | Imagine asking a friend before the 2010 midterm elections, "What Senate candidates align with your beliefs?" and the response being "All of them." This is the case for many corporate political action committees

January 11, 2011 | In the debate about 2nd Amendment rights and gun control, one side -- gun supporters -- typically has the upper hand. Now, gun control advocates are hoping momentum will build for new laws after the assassination attempt against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on Saturday in Tucson.

October 20, 2010 | In the run up to the 2010 midterm elections, Soros joins a handful of young, emerging political heavyweights, many of whom are related to other prolific political donors. And they're helping tip the scales toward Democrats in the competition for students' campaign cash, the Center's analysis indicates.

September 3, 2010 | TEA PARTY, NRA GET BOOSTS FROM CHUCK NORRIS: Action movie star and conservative activist Chuck Norris badly wants you to vote this November. Norris stars in a new ad for the National Rifle Association as part of the group's "Trigger the Vote" campaign.

August 17, 2010 | J.D. Hayworth and Roy Blunt are not the only active politicians to have accepted donations from tainted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In all, 37 current congressional candidates and sitting members of Congress received money from Abramoff and his wife.

July 14, 2010 | OMB HEAD SPINS OUT, NEW ONE SPINS IN: Jacob Lew, Obama's new pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, has more than 30 years of experience in Washington, spinning through the revolving door between the public and private sectors on multiple occasions.

July 12, 2010 | Now that Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 to win the World Cup and bathe in the four following years of international glory that comes with it, we wondered, as we would: Does soccer have a lobby? Sure does.

July 7, 2010 | LOBBYISTS TOP LIST OF SENATOR'S BIGGEST CAMPAIGN DONORS: Now seeking her fourth term in office, the donor list for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) may reflect one of the benefits of incumbency: Lobbyists are the senator's biggest campaign supporters.

June 28, 2010 | The gun rights lobby, one of the most powerful single ideology lobbies in the nation won a major battle this morning. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of individual gun rights in the consequential case McDonald vs. City of Chicago. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled for McDonald in favor of gun rights, striking down Chicago's 28 year-old handgun ban as a violation of the Second Amendment's guarantee of an individual's right to bear arms.

June 24, 2010 | In a 219-206 vote on the House floor today, the House voted to pass H.R. 5175, known as the DISCLOSE Act, an acronym for Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections.

May 19, 2010 | Massive campaign war chests and establishment endorsements were not enough to be victorious in some of the country's most contested Senate primaries Tuesday night. One sitting Senator was defeated and another is heading to a run-off in three weeks, as candidates worked to distance themselves from Washington and position themselves as crusaders against special interests in charged anti-incumbent environments.

April 21, 2010 | While the Securities and Exchange Commission endeavors to whack Goldman Sachs for alleged fraud, it's worth noting that another government entity -- Congress -- is deeply invested in the company. Quite literally.

April 19, 2010 | Who knew the Formaldehyde Council was a K street regular? For the past 10 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to change the classification of formaldehyde from a "probable" to a "known" carcinogen. However, the agency has encountered relentless opposition throughout the process.

March 30, 2010 | Until Friday, it was widely held to be illegal for a federal political action committee to accept contributions in excess of $5,000. Roughly two months earlier, though, the abortion rights advocacy organization EMILY's List created a new independent expenditure group using one massive contribution. Did EMILY's List jump the gun?

February 22, 2010 | WHITE HOUSE, REPUBLICANS READY FOR HEALTH CARE SHOWDOWN: President Barack Obama is slated to today release text of a broad "starting point" for a televised health care reform summit later this week with congressional Republicans. Any good reason to think that lobbyists won't be hard at work, too, as politicians attempt to restart all-but-dormant reform efforts?

November 2, 2009 | With Republican Diedre Scozzafava ending her bid in for Congress and endorsing her Democratic opponent Bill Owens, Owens and Conservative Party nominee Doug are now vying to win over Scozzafava's supporters, including those who lent financial support to her campaign.

October 30, 2009 | 2009 is on pace to be another bumper year for lobbyists. During the third quarter, corporations, unions, trade associations and other special interests spent $849 million on federal lobbying, bringing the year-to-date total to $2.5 billion. Perhaps not surprisingly, the sectors that could be affected most by the Obama administration's domestic agenda -- particularly health, business and energy -- have been some of the biggest spenders over the course of the year.

September 16, 2009 | If the Senate gets its way, be prepared to wait in long lines the next time you want to catch a train. In a win for the well-heeled gun rights lobby, the Senate today passed an amendment to a transportation bill that would stop the release of $1.6 billion in federal funding to Amtrak if the railroad prohibits customers from transporting their weapons.

August 19, 2009 | Political action committees and individuals associated with health industries, each of which are intimately involved in the nation's ongoing health care reform debate, are donating more to federal candidates during the second quarter of 2009 than the first quarter, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis.

July 22, 2009 | The Senate narrowly voted down an amendment this afternoon that would have permitted gun owners to carry concealed firearms across state lines into states with tighter gun regulations. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and attached to a defense spending bill, rallied lawmakers who have received significant donations over their careers from gun-related issue organizations.

March 5, 2009 | At 27, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.V.) was the youngest member of the first Congress he served in, landing spots on the Interior and Public Works committees in his first term in 1976. Now, as chair of the House Natural Resources Committee (formerly the Interior Committee) and the No. 2 Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (formerly Public Works), he's got the support of transportation unions, the mining industry and oil and gas companies.

September 25, 2008 | Private interests and members of the public aren't the only ones betting their money on the congressional candidates they hope will win (or retain) congressional seats. Lawmakers in both parties have a vested interest in seeing their own candidates succeed this November, with Democrats wanting to strengthen their majority and Republicans hoping to minimize their losses. Here we look at some of the candidates getting the largest cash infusions from their own parties, indicating a close race.

August 29, 2008 | John McCain surprised political pundits this morning by inviting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to join him on the Republican ticket. Because Palin's political career is relatively new (she was mayor of Wasilla, an Anchorage suburb, and became governor after the 2006 election), there's little information available in the way of a campaign finance profile. But at the Center for Responsive Politics, we've strung together these observations about Palin's campaign fundraising and money --- and money-related scandal -- in Alaska politics.

June 30, 2008 | The Supreme Court's ruling last week to lift the ban of handguns in Washington, D.C., households is the first ever to determine that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to own guns. While the judicial branch took more than 200 years to rule on the issue, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has spent years developing a relationship with the legislative branch.

May 20, 2008 | Although Republican John McCain's relationship with the National Rifle Association didn't start out with a bang, the presidential hopeful spoke at the group's annual convention Friday to try to win support.

March 21, 2007 | Voters and candidates had their minds on the war, so PACs representing abortion and gun interests pulled back on their campaign contributions. By Lindsay Renick Mayer March 21, 2007 | Although political action committees across all industries increased their total contributions to candidates during the last election, giving by PACs tied to several hot-button political…

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